TCEQ Proposed Rulemaking on Treated Produced Water Land Application Raises Arbitrary-and-Capricious and Groundwater Protection Challenges

TCEQ's proposed rulemaking would transfer treated produced water land application permitting authority from the Railroad Commission, applying existing municipal and industrial wastewater standards—testing only for salts, nitrate, E. coli, and bacteria—to fracking wastewater spread on Texas farmland. The framework lacks specific standards for produced water's chemical constituents and relies on operator-submitted technical assessments for groundwater protection determinations, drawing criticism following the April 2026 Grandfalls incident that released 1.5 million gallons of toxic wastewater.